Main menu

Post navigation

Where (I’d like) to

Where I would like to study abroad came as a no brainer to me; I’ve had a longing for this part of the world all my life. As I’ve shamelessly mentioned before, I adore the concept of travel. What better place to spend four months of my undergraduate career than a continent in which I can be in another country in less time than it takes to get to the bottom of my home state? Europe is my destination of choice, in England to be exact. My desire to venture to the UK stems from the fact that although I do want to reach out of my comfort zone, I don’t want to be entirely out of my element. There is such rich history in England and an abundance of beautiful sights to see I can’t think of a place I’d rather go.

The university I am currently attending doesn’t offer the study abroad experience I am looking for, they go out for less than a month at a time and I’d prefer a semester long experience. Therefore I will be applying to study abroad through another university in my state. They provide direct placement into another university or they offer an exchange program, the latter being what I hope to be accepted into. This school partners with a fair amount of universities throughout the country and the exchange program makes it tremendously less expensive. As far as I have come to gather, the process entails me applying into the study abroad program itself first. They don’t have very harsh qualification requirements fortunately, and from there I will apply to the school I wish to exchange with. Speaking with a study abroad advisor I was informed the exchange program can be rather competitive, and although not everyone gets into their first school of choice most often they will get into their runner up.

So this poses my current predicament, what to put as my second choice? I don’t have very many options considering the program often times requires specific majors, none of which my major falls into. Which means I have to stick to the partner schools that don’t require a specific major to exchange with. I am debating between either the Netherlands or Australia. The Netherlands would keep me in Europe and afford me the opportunity to travel which I so desire to do. Whereas in Australia I would enjoy much more pleasant weather and constant access to the ocean (something else I absolutely adore). I am planning on submitting my application before fall semester starts, sometime in August. So I have a couple of months to nail down destination #2; but my heart is certainly set on #1.